Greens wait to discover their fate as season is cut short
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CAITHNESS should know by next week if they are to stay in National League Division Three or be relegated to the Caledonia League.
A decision is to be made at the end of the month by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) about which teams will be promoted or relegated after the season was curtailed early due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Greens had four matches to play – three away and one at home – when the season came to an end.
The SRU is looking at three options, including declaring the season null and void, awarding each team two points for their remaining games or a having a special panel deciding which teams are promoted or relegated.
Caithness club president George Sinclair said: "We won't know our fate until the end of the month. If the season is declared null and void then we will stay in National League Three but we could also be relegated to the Caledonia League."
Caithness were in the bottom three in their division when the decision was made and could be one of the three clubs to go down.
The team is in a period of transition after losing senior players to injury and others retiring, and a number of younger players have been drafted in.
Should Caithness get relegated they will have fewer games to play as the Caledonia League has only 10 teams but they would still have to travel to places such as Perth, Dunfermline, Alloa and Grangemouth. "That would involve a minimum of 400-mile round trips," Sinclair pointed out.
Asked if he was anxious about the wait until a decision is made, he replied: "Not really, as the season would normally finish in April and we would not know our fate until then, so we do not have too long to wait."
Mr Sinclair said the closure of the club pavilion would impact on income but he did "not anticipate too many changes" regarding players even if the Greens are relegated.
"That should not really be a problem for us," he said.
Looking back on the season, Sinclair said: "It has been fairly tough but the team has done reasonably well. We have young guys in the squad and they have gained experience for the future."
The Greens' last four games were to be against top-of-the table Berwick, West of Scotland, Perthshire and Lasswade.
